This is a term used by journalists for the “after 5” or “closing time” release of some sort of news or press release on a Friday night. Either actual fluff pieces that mean nothing but fill space over the weekend or something like the Executive Order on Immigration & Refugees of last Friday night. That was the other kind of drop, the one that is supposed to lie there, take effect without anyone being the wiser as a change is made to policy or personnel that we, as citizens, are not supposed to notice much because we’d probably not approve.
How things have changed, and thank goodness for that! This past Friday’s drop was not seen as much until people either arrived at airports expecting to pick up incoming passengers or arrived only to be turned around by DHS or CBP agents. Then people took to social media and their phones. And we all, I hope, saw what happened next.
Ordinary people rushed to airports all over the country as the time zones crossed the US and more and more incoming passengers were detained, deported or who knows what happened to them at this time. The lists demanded of the government, by the courts, have yet to be fully produced.
Yes, the courts, our 3rd arm of government and one of the checks and balances in our system. So, the lawyers streamed in, pro bono no less! So did their staff, typists, translators, and even more ordinary folks. And the judges, bless them for staying late or early, depending on where. One interesting point, ALL of the judges who found against the EO on immigration were women! New sheroes in the lexicon of legalese. But what is the deal with sworn officers in CBP/DHS/TSA etc. actively ignoring those orders? Could we do that? Ordinary people just telling a federal judge to “get off we only answer to the White House”? I’m sure that’d go over like a lead balloon and jail would be the least of our problems.
Also interesting is the fact that, whilst the country was going a bit bananas over the totally incompetent roll-out, enforcement and disregard for the law as interpreted by the courts, DJT had dinner with his son-in-law, 2 generals and Bannon. After dinner, or maybe during, no one knows, the order was given to go ahead with a mission that killed an 8 year old AMERICAN CITIZEN. Yes, she was related to other Americans, also killed by our government a few years ago, but she was a citizen. We, yes ALL of us, were responsible for killing her father, because we didn’t like what he said. You read it correctly, it was his free speech we had a problem with. He disagreed with our policies and so, he had to go. No charge, no trial, just dead. Illegal as hell, but dead is dead, no appeal from that. Oh, and then we killed her brother a few weeks later, “by mistake”. He wasn’t in trouble other than by famililial bonds, but he’s dead too. No charge, no trial, just dead. Same problem, no appeal. We killed her because, as “collateral damage”, she was “caught in the cross fire”. Doesn’t matter, she’s dead. Who cares right? From a “terrorists family”. Just like DJT promised us. Her whole family is dead. Except for her grandfather, who had to identify her body. He’s the only reason we know about her or the other civilian dead. And to make sure that no one will ever know how many civilians, especially woman and children we killed, we did something anathema to Muslims, we burned the compound down with the bodies in it.
America, now is the time to look in the mirror and ask yourself some important questions. Is this who we are? We get upset when the doors are slammed in people’s faces as they legally come into our country because it is against the law! How upset are we that our government is killing American Citizens overseas? Not even talking about green card or visa holders, simply citizens by birth or blood, like a lot of us. Will we only be upset when a journalist who takes the White House to task is ignored? What about if they just vanish? What if it’s your teacher, mayor, priest or someone you know gets snatched from their home or office because of what they said, posted, wore or tweeted? And what if it’s on a Friday night and you have plans? Where is the line? Yeah, that line, the one you have to decide which side you’re on……sooner rather than later.
PS: Those Australian refugees were specifically mentioned as being exempt from the Friday last EO. So I wonder why DJT yelled at the Aussie PM? Could it be DJT’s an idiot with the attention span of a mayfly? Or did he not know what he signed….again?
Fly Over Country 